Dragon's Perch

Wherein an innocent isn't executed...

The struggle continues upon the scaffold. The crowd, surprised by the turn of events mill and call. Some are angry about the death of Jaehanna and cry for blood — any blood. Others recognize Ixanti's heritage — the Daardenrian are well regarded in the western lands. Someone even calls out 'Little Feather,' a name that would be largely unknown outside of Ixanti's home.

Curious!

Lyria cuts the ties binding Ixanti's hands and it's on. Hoerik, Lyria's current employer (former? SOMEGUARD), disappears. As does the mysterious smoke conjuring Atreyu. Lilia springs into action (from underneath the gallows) and trips the trap door so Ixanti can fall through and escape. A rogue's gotta rogue. Ixanti grapples with a guard for his truncheon and wins handily. The guard tumbles off of the scaffolding, recovers, and beats feet away, limping. Is he fleeing? Or going to report? A little column A, a little column B.

Ixanti is having none of the escaping business. Signaling to Lyria, the young dragonborn unleashes her breath weapon. This is telegraphed by a deep inhalation and the guards — acutely aware that this was a possibilty — more or less fall all over themselves to get off of the platform. Two are seared in and out by the cloud of poisonous gas that Ixanti exhales. Knowing that she cannot breathe again soon, the guards now do what they could not before and form up into a phalanx just as the paladin and cleric charge them, ferocious. This phalanx proves convenient for Lyria, who procedes to knock them down one by one by one. GRRRR! The guards had trouble landing blows. Is their training that bad or were they merely fighting to a draw until reinforcements arrive? (Column A, Column B…)

Lyria and Ixanti battle fiercely (Quote of the game… Lyria: GRRR!!! Ixanti: You are a … strange little girl.) One of the remaining two guards decides that discretion is the better part of valor and flees. His fellow guardsman, standing strong, notes the lack of an ally and breaks, chasing after him. The shame… a murderer has slipped through their fingers! Ixanti makes for the river behind the scaffolding and dives in. Lyria gives chase and they carry on a 'conversation' shouted across the river before meeting on the bridge where Lyria gives the young dragonborn a mace.

MEANWHILE…

Lilia, retreating from direct conflict, chases after the guardsman and braces him. It should be noted that STR 9 Lilia totally overpowers the guard. Lilia means business! Sadly, the guard doesn't know anything and she turns him loose so that she can follow him. He runs to the guard station and drums up reinforcements. Wanting to get more information about this strange affair — Lilia is in a unique position to know that Ixanti is innocent — she hustles into the Red Gremlin a tavern near the guard station, to get the word on the street. Word on the street is a recounting of the murder site which grows more and more gruesome in the retelling, taking on sinister proportions. Lilia saw the scene of the murder herself — she discovered it — but there weren't any of those… ritual elements… were there? It's all a bit of a blur…

Daggers for everyone! You get a dagger, and you get a dagger...

We spent about half of this session finalizing character information, finishing gear selections, filling out a cheatsheet reference for me, and going over how rolls are generated. That stuff done we began to play…

A new day begins in Moressley, a small-to-middling sized town in the westernmost frontier of the lands claimed in recent (by elven standards) history. Moressley sits on the river Drisk which is a tributary to the Luithcruidyr - the Gray Wanderer – the river that strikes through the Great Vale. Over night, the was a grisly murder and the morning after… an execution.

Swift Justice. Or is it?

Atreyu is in Moressley to study with a small cabal. It was on errands for these learned folks that he was snatched into a parlor and ensorceled with a Geas by the locally famous Cleric, Jaehanna the Just.

That same day, Lilia was planning a heist with some 'friends' at The Blind Basilisk. The common room was rowdy, no one was paying them too much mind (a young dragonborn lass, Ixanti, was living it up in the big city on her first foray from the lands of her birth). Lilia, to her dismay, stumbled upon the freshly murdered body of Jaehanna the Just in an alley near the Basilisk. She was arrested! She was ultimately let got, but only after (inadvertently?) incriminating Ixanti and exonerating herself. Quote of the night: 'I couldn't have been killing anyone… I was planning to rob things.' One-eye Jimmy may have some 'words' for Lilia. Released by morning, Lilia makes her way to the town square where a gallows is being erected.

ENTER: Lyria. The halfling paladin is escorting a merchant about his business. The merchant's donkey begins to buck as the town square fills up abuzz with the news of an execution in the wake of Jaehanna's shocking murder.

The accused: Ixanti. A young cleric embarked upon a rite of passage which will end rather soon at the end of a rope on the town square of Moressely while the Drisk flows on.

But did they stand for this?! NO. Atreyu cast illusory smoke on the scaffolding while Ixanti began to struggle with her captors. Lilia, under the awesome cover of that illusory smoke (whoops! Someone failed a WILL check) attempted to sneak onto the scaffolding. Some onlookers don't see her, and some do! (so many failed WILL checks). Lyria advanced on the gallows and clambered up, stalwart champion that she is and took a swing at the guard being thrashed by Ixanti's struggle. Atreyu, mischief managed, faded into the milling throng. Lilia, the star of her legend rising and falling by turns (and rolls), critically fails to climb the scaffolding and falls under it. Oh! Trap door!

And I'm not talking about the PCs...

The group met to roll up characters at 33 Taps in Silver Lake. It was a really nice place to sit for an afternoon — the management was totally cool with us crashing for several hours. We got about half way through character creation with folks and ended the day with the following characters:

It's a world of slaughter...

The World of Obora

I have long suspected that the boardgame Small World would make a terrific way to randomly generate a history for a game world with unexpected juxtapositions. As a hands on class exercise in World Building (in my, go figure, World Building class), we played a game of Small World to do just that. It worked even better than I could have hoped.

Dragon Wizards and Seafaring Halflings. Fortifying Orcs and Pillaging Ratmen. Flying Ghouls and Berserker Tritons (who later 'reappeared' as Commando Skeletons. Mounted Trolls. Sit with that one for a moment… mounted trolls. I decided that they ride, or rather, rode rhinocerii.

In the era the campaign will take place (I made each step about a century), only the seafaring halflings and one lone amazon remain, through thousands of years that intervened. Centuries of conflict cooled only when plagues ravaged the land. In recent times Elves, have come from the South. Many hope they will bring an era of peace… though… when? In the span of Elven generations? If so, few will live to see it.

Some centuries ago, the Elves declared the Vale of the Jenn the seat of their influence and in the centuries that have followed some measure of peace has fallen over the strange and wild land.

With Orcs striking in from the east and a contingent of Dwarves with their sights set on laying to rest bitter grudges from the past, Obora is poised for adventure!